Myanmar junta chief excluded from summit: ASEAN
Commander-in-Chief of Myanmar's armed forces, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, delivers his speech at the IX Moscow conference on international security in Moscow, in this June 23 file photo. AP-Yonhap
Myanmar's junta chief will be excluded from an upcoming ASEAN summit, the group said Saturday, a rare rebuke as concerns rise over the military government's commitment to plans on defusing a bloody crisis.
Foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations agreed at an emergency meeting late Friday that Min Aung Hlaing will not be invited to the October 26 to 28 summit, current ASEAN chair Brunei said.
The bloc, widely considered a toothless organization, took a strong stand after the junta rebuffed requests for a special envoy to meet with all parties concerned ― a phrase seen to include ousted civilian leader Ang San Suu Kyi.
The statement noted "insufficient progress" in the implementation of a five-point plan agreed by ASEAN leaders in April to end turmoil following a coup in February, when some member states recommended giving "space to Myanmar to restore its internal affairs and return to normalcy.”
It was decided "to invite a non-political representative from Myanmar" to the summit, "while noting the reservations from the Myanmar representative,” the statement said. (AFP)